Gnosis Chain Receives DAO Approval to Join Ethereum Economic Zone Framework
Through a successful governance vote, GnosisDAO has authorized the migration of Gnosis Chain from its current layer-1 architecture to an EEZ rollup structure, allowing direct settlement on Ethereum instead of maintaining a separate validator network.
Through a successful governance vote, GnosisDAO has authorized Gnosis Chain's transformation from an independent layer-1 blockchain into a ZK-proven rollup within the Ethereum Economic Zone (EEZ) framework.
According to an X post from Gnosis Chain, proposal GIP-153 garnered support from 123,158 GNO tokens, while 115 voted against and 151 chose to abstain, with participation from 54 total voters. The vote attracted 123,425 GNO in total turnout, surpassing the required quorum threshold of 75,000.
The approved proposal calls for the retirement of Gnosis Chain's existing validator set, transitioning the network to settle its transactions directly on Ethereum. This transformation effectively converts Gnosis Chain into a layer-2 (L2) solution that depends on Ethereum's validator network for final settlement.
The projected timeline for the initial rollout targets late 2026 or early 2027, contingent upon the necessary EEZ technology reaching production readiness.
This upgrade would empower smart contracts native to Gnosis Chain to invoke Ethereum functions and utilize the returned data within a single transaction, providing access to Ethereum mainnet liquidity and assets within a consumer-"optimized" environment. The proposal indicates this functionality is currently unavailable on existing L2 solutions.
First production deployment of EEZ framework to be Gnosis Chain
Developed collaboratively by Gnosis and ZisK with financial backing from the Ethereum Foundation, the EEZ represents a framework designed for creating Ethereum-aligned rollup solutions.
The framework seeks to address the fragmentation across Ethereum's L2 landscape by facilitating synchronous execution of smart contracts across various rollups without requiring bridge infrastructure. This tackles one of Ethereum's primary scaling challenges: while dozens of L2 networks provide enhanced throughput, they simultaneously fragment liquidity, infrastructure, and user engagement across isolated blockchain environments.
As the inaugural production deployment of this framework, Gnosis Chain will maintain continuity with its current applications, account balances and the xDAI gas token.
In previous statements, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressed concerns regarding centralized sequencer systems and trusted bridging mechanisms, identifying them as potential vulnerabilities in certain L2 network architectures. In a Feb. 3 post on X, Buterin stated, "The original vision of L2s and their role in Ethereum no longer makes sense, and we need a new path."
Current data from L2Beat indicates that 22 Ethereum rollup solutions collectively secure $27.82 billion in value. When including validiums, optimiums and additional scaling solutions, the platform reports a total of $34.88 billion in secured value.
Standard Chartered suggests EEZ may decrease dependence on vulnerable infrastructure
The EEZ framework has the potential to diminish dependence on blockchain bridging solutions while simultaneously boosting activity throughout the Ethereum ecosystem, as noted by Geoffrey Kendrick, who serves as global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered.
In a May 28 research report provided to Cointelegraph, he noted, "The EEZ will have the benefit of reducing the need for bridges (where hacks tend to occur) and increasing the usability of assets in EVM chains."
Both of these are likely to lead to greater activity in the Ethereum ecosystem.
According to Kendrick, the EEZ framework could facilitate enhanced composability among assets, enabling smart contracts deployed on different participating networks to interact seamlessly within a single transaction.